PATINDEX: The PATINDEX functions return
the starting position of a pattern you specify.
You must
include percent signs before and after the pattern,
Unless you
are looking for the pattern as the first (omit the first %) or last (omit the last %) characters in a column or text.
Syntax:
PATINDEX (
'%pattern%', expression )
Pattern: Pattern is a character expression that contains a sequence of the characters. Wildcard characters can be
used.
Expression: The expression that is
searched for the specified pattern.
Example:
SELECT PATINDEX('%e____le%', 'This example of the
Patindex');
Note: PATINDEX works just like LIKE, so
you can use any of the wildcards. You do not have to enclose the pattern
between percents. PATINDEX('a%', 'abc') returns 1 and PATINDEX('%a', 'cba')
returns 3.
Unlike LIKE,
PATINDEX returns a position, similar to what CHARINDEX does.